Aside from the Surface Go 2, the Microsoft Surface Book 3 is also available for pre-order in Malaysia now. This is a premium 2-in-1 laptop, so as expected, it costs quite a bit of money. For the Malaysian market, the 13.5-inch model starts at RM7,788, while the bigger 15-inch variant costs a whopping RM13,088.

Three different configurations of the 13.5-inch Surface Book 3 are offered here. The RM7,788 base model features a 10th-generation Intel Core i5-1035G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics. A tier up is the RM9,688 configuration, which comes with a more capable Core i7-1065G7 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q GPU.

As for the top-of-the-line Surface Book 3, it has the same Core i7-1065G7 processor and GTX 1650 Max-Q GPU, but the RAM and SSD capacities are doubled to 32GB and 512GB respectively. This particular variant retails at RM11,688, so you’re essentially paying RM2,000 to get twice the amount of RAM and SSD storage.

What about the 15-inch Surface Book 3? Only a single variant is offered to regular consumers, which carries a hefty RM13,088 price tag. It comes with a Core i7-1065G7 processor, 32GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a pretty beefy GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q GPU. Oddly enough, the Quadro RTX 3000 model is available here too, but it is only offered to commercial customers.

If the Surface Book 3 looks just like its predecessor, that’s because it is; the new laptop just has updated internals. The 13.5-inch model still features a 3000 x 2000 screen, while the 15-inch variant sports a sharper 3240 x 2160 panel. Both are touch-enabled PixelSense displays with a spacious 3:2 aspect ratio, which is ideal for productivity tasks.

What makes the Surface Book particularly unique is its form factor that combines the portability of a tablet and familiarity of a laptop. The screen can be detached from the keyboard to transform it into a tablet, and you can dock it back to get the functionality of a laptop. This level of flexibility is one of the best reasons to get the Surface Book 3 than other competing laptops.

The Microsoft Surface Book 3 is now available for pre-order in Malaysia, and it will ship on 23 June. To recap, the 13.5-inch model starts at RM7,788, while the sole 15-inch configuration costs RM13,088. These are unmistakably steep price tags, but it’s really not that surprising – the Surface Book series has always been a premium offering.